Kier buys 17 new towers
10 October 2007UK hire firm Kier Plant has announced a £10m investment programme, which will include 17 new tower cranes.
Kier Plant has ordered 17 top-slewing tower cranes and introduced new standards in site accommodation as part of a major investment programme this year to expand and modernise its comprehensive hire range.
Liebherr is supplying nine cranes and Potain a further eight in orders worth altogether £4m. From Liebherr, Kier Plant has purchased six 200 series models and two 160s, all equipped with the latest Litronic electronic control system for improved lifting capacities, plus a 160 HC-L luffing-jib model. Potain is delivering six new MDT 178 models from its City Topless range, plus two MD265 J-10s.
As part of Kier Support Services Division, Kier Plant is investing in record levels of plant and equipment to improve its hire range and meet growing demands both from external clients and from within the Kier Group. The company hires out over 100 cranes and some 3,500 accommodation units from seven depots around the UK.
Kier Plant managing director Ian Gordon said: “This year we have invested over £10m to extend and update our entire range, from cranes to generators.”
Commenting on the new crane orders, Kier Plant operations director Pat Glynn said: “These new machines will help keep our growing crane fleet fully up-to-date with the latest advances in safety and technology. We see this investment as enhancing the service we offer clients by delivering the best, most reliable and economic lifting solutions.”
Two of the company’s new cranes have been put to work already, on the Snowhill project in Birmingham, UK. The fully-glazed 340,000 sq ft steel-framed commercial development being built by sister company Kier Build will provide 11 floors of office accommodation above a ground-floor reception and retail area, plus basement parking for up to 125 vehicles on three floors.
The company has bought four of the latest Liebherr 200 EC-B 10 Litronic flat-top cranes, capable of carrying a jib of 65m – five metres more than the current 200 range; Two Liebherr 200 EC-H 10 Litronic cranes, adding to an existing Kier Plant fleet of five similar models; Two of the newly-launched Liebherr 160 EC-B 10 Litronic flat-top cranes, the first of their kind to be introduced to the UK, they have a 2t lifting capacity at a 60m radius; A Liebherr 160 HC-L with luffing jib – ideal for operating in restricted urban locations; Six Potain MDT 178 cranes, capable of carrying a jib of up to 60m and with a lifting capacity of 1.75t at 55m; Two of Potain’s versatile MD265 J-10 machines, featuring a 65-metre jib and 2.85t of lift.
Kier's new Liebherr 200 EC-H10 (right) and flat top 200 EC-B 10 (left) at work on the Snowhill project in Birmingham Kier Liebherrs Kier's new Liebherr 200 EC-H10 (right) and flat top 200 EC-B 10 (left) at work on the Snowhill project in Birmingham Kier Liebherrs
